Stress Rehearsals:
My Classroom Strategy for Combating Test Anxiety

By Penelope Carver, Houston ISD

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Sleek’s Incredible Tutor™ test-prep software simulates the actual TAKS and FCAT tests as closely as possible, and is a great tool to use in implementing Ms. Carver’s stress rehearsal suggestion!]

Practice makes perfect, or so they say. And, the beauty of practice is that it also makes for less anxiety and less stress when the real event occurs. This is especially true when test day comes and what my students have practiced is feeling anxious.

I have learned in my many years of teaching that I can teach the material that will be on the TAKS tests over and over again, but if I don’t simulate the actual test as closely as possible the students don’t do as well as they could. Part of simulating the actual test means creating the same feelings of test anxiety in my students that they’ll feel when the real test comes.

According to ChannelOne, the program we watch at our school during homeroom, severe test anxiety affects at least 10% of all high school test-takers. Many experts say this number is higher when the stakes are higher, for example in the case of the EXIT exam that our students must pass to graduate from high school.

I came to the realization a long time ago that if my students know how to handle their own anxiety then they have part of the test licked before they even start. So, a week before the TAKS, we work on handling that anxiety. I figure that, this close to the test, there’s not a whole lot more I can cram into their poor brains and that if I try to cram more in there I will just end up making their anxiousness over the test even worse. So, we focus on test-taking skills and their personal methods of handling test-related emotions rather than on the material over which they will be tested during that week.

Part of the problem is that students don’t know how to cope with feelings of anxiousness in any situation, let alone a test-taking situation. I like to work on helping them cope with those feelings so they'll know what to do on test day. If they feel them pre-test then they aren’t thrown completely off course by the emotions coursing through them during the test. So, we spend that last week before the test doing what I call stress rehearsals.

The end result is that, while they may still feel anxious when taking the test, they will have at least had the opportunity to grow accustomed to the feeling. Thus, staying in control mentally becomes easier for them because they aren’t dealing with “newness” on top of anxiousness. Stress rehearsals give the students a chance to face their fears in a more managed environment.

Talk to your teacher about your anxiety—don’t assume he/she knows you’re anxious.

Do stress rehearsals. (See reader contribution in this issue of eNews.)

Be prepared. Knowing the material and being familiar with the test format are the best ways to feel more comfortable when test time comes. 

Practice for the test using good test-taking techniques such as eliminating answer choices to narrow the possibilities, highlighting key information and making little notes while reading.  This will allow you to feel more in control.

When you feel anxious, stop for a moment and breathe deeply and exhale slowly ten times—don’t rush this process.

Visualize yourself passing the test.

Make up a phrase before the test that you can repeat over and over in your mind when the going gets tough (for example, “I am capable; I am capable.”).

Relax every muscle in your face for 30 seconds.

[EDITOR’S NOTE:  Sleek’s Incredible Tutor™test-prep software is specially designed to help with items 4, 5, and 6 above, and is a valuable tool to help ease test-anxiety.] 

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Ingredients:

2 cups of Bisquick
1/2 cup of cold water
3 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon of parsley flakes
1 heaping teaspoon of Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt
1/2 stick of butter, melted

Directions: